‘The Odyssey’ Is Heading For a Record-Shattering Opening Weekend, and It Is Rewriting Matt Damon’s Career Numbers Too

Christopher Nolan has spent the past several months turning ‘The Odyssey’ into one of the most anticipated theatrical events of the year, and the numbers rolling in this weekend suggest all that buildup is about to pay off in a massive way. After sold-out IMAX 70mm screenings and presale figures that had already drawn comparisons to some of the biggest box office events in recent memory, the film’s actual opening weekend performance is now living up to the hype.

That momentum kicked off with a genuinely staggering Thursday preview haul. According to Deadline, the film pulled in 17.6 million dollars from Thursday preview screenings alone across roughly 3,900 North American theaters, marking the best preview total of the entire year and putting the film on pace for a Friday total near 50 million dollars.

Building off that strong start, Deadline is now projecting a three-day opening weekend of 117 million dollars for ‘The Odyssey’, a number that would make it both the best live-action opening of 2026 and a career high for Matt Damon as a leading man. That figure comfortably tops 2007’s ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, which previously held the record at 69.2 million dollars, more than doubling Damon’s previous personal best in a single leap.

The projected opening also positions the film well ahead of the year’s other live-action heavy hitters, surpassing Lionsgate’s ‘Michael’ and its 97.2 million dollar debut. Overall, ‘The Odyssey’ would land as the third biggest opening of 2026 across every genre, trailing only ‘Toy Story 5’ at 159.6 million dollars and ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ at 131.7 million dollars.

The film’s rating adds another layer to the milestone. As an R rated release, ‘The Odyssey’ is on track to post the biggest R rated opening weekend of the year, edging out ‘Backrooms’ and its 81.4 million dollar debut, while also becoming the highest grossing R rated opening in Universal Pictures’ entire history, surpassing ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and its 85.1 million dollar bow.

For Nolan personally, the projected opening slots in as the third best start of his directing career, trailing only ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ at 160.8 million dollars and ‘The Dark Knight’ at 158.4 million dollars. It also leaves his previous release, 2023’s ‘Oppenheimer’, well behind in the rearview mirror, with that film having opened to 82.4 million dollars during its own Barbenheimer moment.

Overseas, the film is performing just as strongly, with Deadline pegging the global debut near 40 million dollars and climbing, pushing the worldwide opening weekend outlook past 200 million dollars. Audiences appear just as enthusiastic as critics have been, with the film holding a 96 percent audience score to match its 96 percent Tomatometer rating, the best of Nolan’s career on both fronts.

With the film currently playing in 3,919 theaters and facing no major wide release competition this weekend, ‘The Odyssey’ looks positioned to fully dominate the box office as official studio numbers roll in.

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